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What is this Snow Queen Quest, and why was it taken out?
Let us see, where to start. The Snow Queen Quest was a sort of side-quest in the original Japanese version in which your teacher, Mrs. Smith, tells you the story of the Snow Queen and her mask, and end up accidentally becoming possessed (which explains her strange behavior). There were two reasons, I was told, that the Snow Queen quest was removed from the game. Atlus needed to get Persona out before Christmas, and they didn't have the time needed to properly translate the quest for the US version. According to them, it wasn't possible to defeat the Snow Queen Quest (it actually is, however), was hard to find in the first place, and was more of an 'extra' than a neccessary part of the game.
After trying it for a while, I really wish Atlus had had more time to bring it over. It's not just a bunch of dungeons to fight through, there is a lot more story, different events, and totally new NPCs not in the normal quest. The Snow Queen Quest also add a few rather cool cinemas, such as one where you see a classroom, then a hallway of the school being covered in ice, and an FMV where Philimon calls up a frame of a mirror which plays part of the quest.
How do you get to the SQQ in the Japanese version?
Meet Nancy at the shrine, and take her back to the school. Go to the library, and talk to Kain. Go to room 2-4, talk to the girl in there, and go back and talk to Kain again. Go to the drama club (first room behind the gym), and talk to the three people in there. Go back up to the library, but go into the Student Council room right next to it, talking to everyone in there. Go to the Principal's Office, talk to Mrs. Kotter and Dean Harding, then go back to the gym. Go into the storage room off of the gym, and open the orange box (second choice) (Note: You are forced out of this room at this point in the US version). Inside, you'll find the Snow Queen's mask.
Go to the open-air corridore between the gym and the main building of the school (where the broken wall is). Mary and Mark should be there talking to Yuki and Alana. Leave through the hole, and Mrs. Smith will come talk to you, Yuki, and Alana (Note: This is why students say that Yuki is still around the school in the US version, but she can't be found; she pertains to the Snow Queen Quest, and with that removed, so was she). She'll take the mask from you and tell you the story of the Snow Queen. When she is done, she'll put on the mask, which will possess her.
Wait a minute ... I've heard that the SQQ actually IS in the US version - what gives?
Well ... I can't talk about that right now. ^_^ Soon, boys and girls ... soon.
I know - you just use a Game Shark, give yourself the mask, and there you go! Right?
Sorry, that doesn't work. I thought the same thing, so I did just that. There seems to be a few steps that were taken out, probably to make sure that someone couldn't do just that and get to it.
What is the story behind the SQQ?
Supposedly, when Ms. Smith was a student at St. Hermelin, she did something to cause harm to come to a friend of hers named Tomomi. Tomomi has come back to seek revenge, and has taken over the body of Ms. Smith. Four towers surround the school, and you must travel through at least three of them and find at least seven, out of a possible twelve, pieces of a shattered mirror. If you re-assemble the mirror, you will free Ms. Smith from her posession. After doing so, you must find your way to the school's 11th floor and defeat the main demon. There are no real save points in the quest except for in the mains school dungeon, so you must complete each tower in one sitting. Henry stated that there is no real time limit to the quest, as others have hinted at there being, and that it took him 76 hours (!) to get eleven of the twelve pieces.
So, since you have Yuki in the Snow Queen Quest, can you keep her once you've complete it?
Ah, the million dollar question, and the one everyone is asking. ^_^ In a word, no. Once you begin the Snow Queen Quest, you are playing an alternate storyline. You play it, and once you complete it, you've beaten the game in an alternate way. It was sort of an extra stuck in to give you yet another reason to play the game again.
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